THIS Sunday will see Daniel Elmore become just the fourth Sebastopol Viking to notch 300 senior games.
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Elmore, 35, will celebrate the monumental milestone when he lines up for the Vikings' division three side against Creswick Maroon in the Ballarat District Soccer Association.
In doing so, the quietly spoken defender will join the likes of David Strachan, Rod Oppenhuis and James Maggi as the only players to reach such a lengthy stint on the field.
As Elmore says, "it's been a long road".
"It's my eighteenth season, it's starting to catch up with me now, especially on Monday's, but I still feel fairly young," he said.
"It's something that makes me very proud but coming up towards it I didn't think too much about it.
"To be the fourth person to reach it at the club is quite daunting."
Elmore joined the Vikings as a sprightly 18-year-old back in 1997 when he moved from Skipton, and has strong ties with the club that began with his father's 250-game career in the yellow and blue.
"Before the Vikings I hadn't actually had the opportunity to play because it was too far to travel," Elmore said.
"The club is part of my life and I love it."
Elmore's very first premiership came in 1998, where he says the Vikings just about everything on offer.
Since then played in division two flags in the 2009 and 2010 years.
However, he bears a rather unenviable tag of captaining a side to five consecutive grand final losses.
"I was quite happy to hand it (the captaincy) back over after that," he laughed.